Welcome to the Jungle
by Wicked.Delights
Summary: It has been a month since her brother disappeared on the remote rook island, and Raven finds herself immersed in the waters of survival, terror, loathing, and lust, where she can either sink or swim. Vaas/\OC
1. Dreams

**Here we go! My first attempt at a fan fic! **

**I apologize for the length of the first two chapters, but they were both used to sort of lead up to the main story. Anywho. Thanks for reading! I love feedback!**

Raven had always thought that her brother had no place traveling to the Rook islands. Believing that doing such things on a whim, let alone one based off of a singular dream he hardly remembered to be more than just a waste of resources, but completely idiotic.

Their family was well endowed, yes, gaining most of their resources from excavations done previously on islands such as the Rooks, but had never gone their due to it's current reputation in slavery and drug deals. She couldn't say she hadn't warned him.

And yet he had gone, and nearly a month later, he hadn't returned.

She found herself feverishly watching the news each night, leaving TV's on in each room for fear of missing a report of breaking news. For fear of hearing something from the islands. But nothing came.

That was when her dreams started. Faint, and indistinguishable at first. A palm tree out of place amongst snow covered pines... The smell of salted water amongst a horizon of mountains, the feel of sand beneath her toes beneath the covers of her bed. But it was when the visions of blood rinsing itself from the sands of a tropical beach and the sounds of her brothers whimpers began that she found no sleep at all.

_I have to find him. Even if it means going to the bloody islands myself to do it. I've got to be insane. _

The boat shook as the waves crashed against it making the process of pulling her black tresses into a ponytail of any semblance of order all the more difficult, and far more time consuming than she would have hoped. This elicited many frustrated grunts at the small mirror nailed to the wall in her room, and a chuckle from someone she hadn't realized had been standing in the doorway watching her.

"If your brother is really in any sort of trouble, I don't think he'll be too concerned with how neatly you have your hair up."

Raven turned, her honey hazle eyes narrowing slightly at the man leaning in her doorway as she moved to grab the compass she had placed on her bedside table. "You know you could do with a bit of upkeep yourself now and then Rei." She paused "And besides, I aim better without hair in my way." It was then she let a small smile play on her lips to show she was kidding.

The man; Rei chuckled once more and stood up more properly in the doorway. "Captain says he's expecting a storm ahead, and wants us to buckle down for the night. Get some sleep, Rav. We have a big day ahead."

"Right, right." She murmered, and held fast to the soft metal in her hands, hardly noticing as he closed the door to her room. She turned it over in her hands, several times, twisting it between her fingers as she situated herself on her bed. She quickly found herself entranced by the needles constant adjustments to face north, and before long she had fallen asleep.

It was too late when she realized the boat was sinking.

***End Prelude***


	2. Awakening

Her dream felt cold. The snowy littered landscape an all too familiar backdrop from memories long since past, save for the towering palms speckled across the skyline. This was something, that once she realized where she was, was far more out of place then usual.

_Mount Kilimanjaro...But that must mean-_

She groaned slightly and gripped her head, feeling a great knot forming on the side. She must have fallen on a snowy bank from the mountainside. She knew however she wasn't alone, if only for a muddleing of sounds barely audible in the distance.

_"Shit Rei, where did she go" _ From her foggy state she heard what she thought sounded like a man being shoved

_"I DON'T know Alex! I'm just as worried about your sister as you are."  
_ And there was silence again. Sweet silence. Coupled with the fact that she could barely move, she found this all comforting.

_This is just dream. I'm dreaming of my climbing accident on Kilimanjaro. Alex will find me soon, and I'll be on a chopper with Rei back to somewhere civilized._

But she began to feel weightless. Cold. Wet.

They were speaking again, although this time their voices sounded fainter and almost foreign unlike before. Garbled, as if they were speaking underwater.

"_I've found her! She's over here!... Shit, the bitches turning blue."_

_"ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID HERMANO?! DO FUCKING CPR." _ The voice moved a bit farther away. "_Honestly, fucking people these days. All just a bunch of pricks... Pricks everywhere. The plan was very simple. We see a ship." _the man whistled. "_Get into formation and snag everyone on board as hostages. And this piece of shit pulls out someone we can still use, and JUST TELLS ME IT ISN'T BREATHING." _He laughed then in a manner that sounded less than comical. "_Do you honestly think we can make a profit off of a waterlogged dead girl hermano? Now get this shit taken care of PROPERLY and carry them back to camp. AM I CLEAR!?" _

She felt two hands on her chest pushing in rythm, and as water began to escape from her lungs it became wasn't dreaming anymore.

**Sorry for the delay and it being another short chapter. I've been balancing a lot with my artwork, and I'm overall pretty rusty when it comes to writing, but none the less I'm hoping to post a couple this week that will really lead into the story line further. Thanks so much for reading! Any questions or comments will be greatly apprectiated. :D**


	3. Welcome to the Jungle

Moments passed, long and slow before her field of vision cleared. The sun was beginning to rise, but the clouds from the passing storm gave way to little light. That was good, she thought. If there was any chance she could get out of whatever sort of mess she was in, it was under the cover of darkness.

She could hear the sounds of footsteps in the distance, different from the scuffling of feet that surrounded her and her crew, likely being the man she had just heard heading back to the camp he spoke of. But that didn't matter right now.

She continued to stare at the clouds, feeling dazed before a figure, tall in stature, tan, and clad in a red shirt, and pants she hadn't bothered to look at just yet crowded her line of sight. He spoke behind a bandana that covered the bottom half of his face. "Alright, up now, nice and easy Hermana."

She was pulled up lazily and forced to sit on her knees with her head down, while the man tied her hands behind her back. She used this opprotunity to take in her surroundings.

They had everyone lined up in a fashion similar to her own position, heads bowed, some red shirted lackey pointing a gun lazily at the back of their heads, most of the crew covered in some form of dirt. There were few passengers on the ship they had taken here, most of which had been guards dumped on her by her father to make sure shit exactly like what was happening, was prevented. Wonderful job they did.

She heard the sobs of what she believed to be the cook of their ship a few feet away from her and sighed inwardly. She hadn't even wanted to be a part of this little expedition. Raven couldn't help but feel partly responsible.

But it was when she heard the cursing of the captain that Raven dared to raise her head again. He had two of the lackeys on him, hoisting him into the air by his arms to try to bring him to the lineup, but the captain was flailing uselessly He looked much like a toddler throwing a tantrum being dragged out of a store.

_Idiot._

One of the lackeys had finally had enough when they made it next to Raven and shoved the captain to his knees, a fist connecting to his jaw moments later. "You stupid shit! You really think you were going to get anywhere like that?!"

The captain turned his head, spitting the blood that had welled in his mouth onto the shoe of the pirate who hit him and spoke in a guttural voice. "Fuck you."

Raven shifted uncomfortably at the look the pirate had gotten on his face, a drug addled mix of disgust and absolute rage. Behind her, her 'guardian' pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of her head. "No moves, Hermana." The girl stayed silent.

The pirate looming over the captain drew his foot back and kicked him in the stomach, and the Captain rolled almost uselessly to his side before another blow connected to his ribs. "You stupid MOTHER FUCKER." He balled his fingers into the captains hair and jerked him into a sitting position. "You see these fucking boots? YOU FUCKING SEE THEM?! You get another drop of that useless SHIT you call blood on them again, I'll put my foot so far up your ass you'll see it out the other side, motherfucker."

So, the pirate didn't seem the most intelligent. Still, the captain seemed stupider when he looked like he was about to open his mouth again, so Raven spoke up. "They look small, Captain. I think you'll be fine." She instantly regretted it.

"'The fuck you say bitch?"

Raven grit her teeth. "I said your feet look _fucking_ small. You know what they say about small feet, _right?"_

She fully expected the slap across the face she received, but the almost inaudible chuckle of the guard behind her was unexpected.

_Good. That means I've found a weak spot._

There was a clicking sound as a loudspeaker somewhere in the thickness of the trees turned on.

"_What are you fuckers doing down there? Shooting the shit?!" _The tone of his voice, began dripping with sarcasm. "_If you would be so KIND as to bring our GUESTS to the stage, maybe we could all get properly AQUAINTED." _

The guard that slapped her seemed to snarl, and spit in her face, leaving her side to kick the captain once more before hoisting him upwards and shoving him forward towards a path that lead to a complex of preverbal shit-shanty's. It wasn't long before she was pulled up too, and marched forward.

They passed several stations of guards, which she noticed had enough guns to supply a small platoon of men. Most of them looked bored or irritated, but nearly all of them looked like they were sailing through some sort of drug cloud. More mental notes.

It wasn't long before she found herself on her knees again, although this time on the hard planks of what she heard the guards call 'The stage'.

She looked at her lineup once more. Although this time she was looking for someone in particular.

_Rei, where the fuck are you?_

She continued to search for him, growing almost frantic before the feel of feet stepping onto the stage for the first time brought her from her thoughts.

The man with the mohawk she had seen before, held a set of cards in his hand and flipped through them idly. "Lets see who we have here… James Whitehead… " He snickered. "Age, twenty-four…" He knelt down beside him and continued to chuckle. "You have a stupid fucking name Hermano." He rustled the mans hair before he moved on. "Jack Richmond, 27. Nicole sparks, 23." He clicked his tounge then. "And next up we have a miss Raven Redbird, age 21. You gave us quite the scare there little bird. It's almost as if you didn't know birds aren't supposed to be in the fucking water." He chuckled once more before he moved down the line. "And last, but certainly not least, we have Mr Frank Peters, age 38. That was some show you put on for us out there Captain. It was very nice of you to act your age in light of our hospitality."

Frank grit his teeth as he looked at the wood below him, for once in the very least biting his tounge. Although this didn't sneak past the apparent pirate lords notice. "Whats the matter Hermano? You angry? You a little pissed off that I called you a child? Don't quite feel like a man?" He leaned in real close to him then and spoke just above a whisper. "You ain't shit here, Frank. You got that? You're on my island now…. Welcome to the Jungle, bitch."

_**Heeeeey! Check it out! I told you I'd be making something a bit longer soon! We're finally getting into a little bit of action here~**_

_**But where the hell did Rei go? **_

_**More to come!~**_


	4. Scars

**Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews and the favorite! I'm more than excited to continue this story. **

**I have sooooo much to the plot line that I've been wanting to add with it, but it feels like my ideas are boiling over like a rice cooker, so I'm trying reeeeeaallly hard to stay focused. **

**I've also JUST gotten my CGing tablet for my artwork, so I'm sorry this took a few days.**

**Anywho, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!**

_Smoke billowed from the cherry of a lit cigar as it lay tip down in an ashtray. The man behind it sat with his hands folded on the table, considerably less tan than his own, his red button up slightly askew and open, although his jacket seemed to make it look natural. After a moment he unfolded one of his hands and lifted it to the gold chain on his neck. His silent stare, Vaas thought was a ruse to make him uncomfortable. Like hell._

_Vaas turned his attention lazily back to the smoke as it rose to the ceiling, twisting and turning much like a snake, before circling itself, and beginning to look like a noose. He snorted at the thought of using the primitive killing device. Leaving the bodies out to hang before his camp, warding off curious natives. Fucking classic. He'd set it up when he got back to the compound. _

_His snort seemed to irk the man before him enough that his middle aged face contorted to something resembling disdain. "Do you think this situation is funny Mr. Monetegro? Do you even know why we are here?"_

_Vaas leaned back and rubbed his hands over the sides of his newly shaved Mohawk and looked at the man who was still ignoring his cigar. "Fuck man. You call me in here, don't say a damn word, and expect me to know whats going on? I think you need the break, Volker." _

_Hoyt Volker grimaced all the more and in a swift motion slid open a drawer and pressed a button on a small remote control. From the left side of his desk, a small television began to rise up, the screen a mix of static. He pressed another button and the screen jumped to life. _

_A group of shanty's rose up in the distance, their size increasing as the cameras switched until they were trained on the rear entrance. "Do you see this? " he tapped the screen with a thin finger. "This is your eyesore of a compound Vaas. Your castle, as you call it. And you see THIS?" The faint sound of gunshots could be heard from the speakers of the television, a few screams, cursing, and then the doors burst open. Vaas instantly scowled and sat forward. A crouching man moved through the doors, checked his surroundings, and ran to the jungle. "THAT my dear boy is one of your prisoners!" He spoke in his thick accent that was hard for Vaas to place and finally picked up his cigar, only to see that it was burnt out. This annoyed him. "Oh, but wait, there's more! " He tapped another button on his remote, and it switched to another tape featuring the same escapee in privateer turf. "That same son of a bitch has been sniffing around on my land, Vaas. MY LAND." He flicked his burnt out cigar at him. "This is completely unacceptable."_

_Vaas groaned, remembering the prisoner all too well. Tall bastard, green defiant eyes. Thought he was tough shit. Had turned out to be a massive pain in his ass. "I lost a good amount of men to that little fuck." He brushed the cigar off of him, trying not to let it get to him. He'd get it back to him tenfold one day. "I've re-enforced the barriers, and gave my pile-o-pricks a set of bigger guns. Make 'em train with it every day. That shit won't be happening again."_

_Hoyt nodded, as if he were listening, though Vaas figured he had tuned him out when he began to speak. And then he sighed, and looked up at him, making a small gesture with his hand, that confused Vaas at first, until he felt a set of arms wrap around his neck, holding him in place. Another privateer he hadn't exactly noticed walked in and pointed a gun right at his head. Hoyt stood, and once more, albeit lazily, opened one of his desk doors. "I'm afraid that's just not good enough." He lifted a machete from the drawer. "If you can't make your mark on this place. I'll make my mark on you." He stepped forward and shifted the machete between his hands. "I never did like that hairstyle anyway." _

Vaas snapped back into the moment, and stared down at the battered captain. "What the fuck did you call me?" The captain was silent. This pissed him off even more. He rushed forward and got into the man's face, pressing his pistol against his temple. "I SAID WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CALL ME, FRANK!"

The man did his best not to recoil, clearly trying to be strong. All a load of shit if you asked Vaas. He bit off enough courage to look the man in the eyes, and said in a nearly unwavering voice. "I said. 'What are you, a wanna be scarface."

Vaas snarled audibly. "That's what I fucking thought you said."

The sound of a gunshot rung out through the compound.

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**I didn't really know how Vaas had gotten the scar that we all see on his forehead, so I thought I'd give a little back story!**

**More from Raven soon to come~**


	5. Caged Bird

_Oh god, Alex what have you done?_

Frank slumped backwards, still on his knees. Raven narrowly remembered it feeling like he was frozen in time. Stuck in the same position, but not looking like he was quite done moving. Suspended like this, forever.

Vaas knelt before his body, his pistol tapping thoughtfully on the side of his head directly over his scar. He had his eyes closed when he began speaking. "Such a fucking waste. You know that? That was a FUCKING waste." He was shaking his head then, a slight chuckle rose from the back of his throat. " I think Hoyt knows some fucker in Hong Kong who would have paid high price for this sack of shit." He stood up almost lazily and kicked frank in the side. His body toppled onto Nicole, staining the poor chef's clothes with blood.

The moment Frank fell, the screaming began. The sound rang as clearly in Raven's ears as the gun shot it followed, and it woke her from her thoughts of weightlessness, of Frank and his everlasting freeze frame.

_He's not frozen anymore. This is real._

Nicole wriggled uselessly, practically flailing in an attempt to move away from the body. The look of horror never leaving her face. And her screams never silenced.

Vaas rubbed his temples and motioned to one of his guards. "I want her gagged. I can't stand the sound of that shit much longer." He began to walk down the line, continuously rubbing his temples. "Alright, now listen. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make some phone calls, see how much you lovely bunch of coconut-fucks are worth. " He brought his hands down to his lips and tilted his head thoughtfully to each side. "And then I'll give them a week to send me the money. If not, I'll be feeding your remains to my dogs. "

This caused Nicole to cry out again, and in a flash Vaas had turned away from the group and to his own men. "I SAID I WANT HER FUCKING GAGGED. DID I STUTTER?! HURRY UP YOU STUPID FUCKS!" His men moved into place almost instantly then, silencing the girl. She hardly put up a struggle. He was tapping his gun against the side of his head again then. "No, No, No… I'll be cool. It seems I have already failed to entertain Mr. Peters, I would hate to burst the bubble of Mr. Whitehead over there."

There were a few chuckles amongst his men as Vaas grinned almost boyishly at his own joke. Inwardly Raven was reeling. The man before her practically _dripped_ insanity. He lost his temper on the drop of a hat, and clearly wasn't afraid to kill. She wondered briefly if her brother had met up with this psychopath. Worse yet, she wondered if he were still alive. This thought alone made her close her eyes, and bite back the urge to cry. But if he were still out there, he would have no use for her crying like a lost child. Crying lost children never found their way home, and could never lead anyone back home either. Her inner monologue brought her to the thought of Rei.

"_If your brother is really in any sort of trouble, I don't think he'll be too concerned with how neatly you have your hair up."_

She sighed. She could build up a façade all she wanted, but she had to focus if she actually wanted to make a difference.

_Alright. Breathe. Focus. Center._

She was acutely aware that Vaas had begun moving towards her when she allowed herself to exhale, not realizing she had been holding her breath for some time.

He knelt before her and looked almost kindly into her face. "Now you have been quiet little bird. Have I failed to entertain you like Miss Sparks over there?" He motioned idly to the woman, now bound and gagged placed all too comically in the arms of their dead captain. It might have been his pirates idea of a joke.

Raven looked at the girl only for a moment, meeting his gaze steadily and narrowing her eyes.

His eyebrow raised, almost challengingly. "I really wish you wouldn't give me that look Amiga. You and I… We're going to get to know each other very well over the next few weeks. You and your little bunch of bumbling assholes. "

He seemed to snicker as he drew brought out his hand to brush his thumb across her bottom lip, leaving Raven to do all she could not to cringe. "Still nothing to say. A shame" He said, leaning in closer then to whisper in her ear " Didn't Maya Angelou say the caged bird sings for freedom?"

Her body went rigid, if only for a moment. But in that instant, she knew she had to stop being the lost child. The caged bird had to sing.

She closed her eyes, braced herself, and slammed her forehead into the bridge of his nose, as hard as she could.

**Thanks for reading! **

**We got to see a bit more of Raven this time! Yaaaaaaaaay!**

**Not that having a ton of Vaas is a bad thing. :P**

**Thanks so much for the continued support! I'll be updating again soon!**


	6. Storm

He had been having trouble sleeping that night. Maybe it was the constant rocking of the boat. Or the sounds it made that reminded him too much of a metal tower threatening to collapse. But he couldn't fucking sleep.

Normally, Andreios, or Rei as most liked to call him could fall asleep in the worst conditions. He had, after all been in them enough to get enough practice. But on rare nights like this when sleep seemed almost helpless, he often found Raven in her study, mulling over a book or fidgeting with the knife he had given her for her birthday. But for once, the girl had been asleep. She needed it, however. She had been awake nearly every night for weeks, sleeping only when he came to sit beside her and stroked her hair. So he sat in his room alone, and thought of his past.

His father had been a personal guard to the Redbird clan, much like his father before him. They had been all over the world, excavating, exploring, and researching anything they could get a whiff of for as long as birds could fly his father always used to say. Rei just assumed he meant since planes were invented.

But still, Andreios had grown up alongside the two youngest Redbirds, and found it almost natural to gain a protective instinct over them. . His family had liked the adventure the Redbirds provided for them, and had never once been treated as less than an equal. So when Raven had decided to go after her brother, he came along with her.

It felt like hours passed before Rei grew restless enough to leave his room and venture towards the deck, although the walk took longer than he expected. He hardly noticed it at first, an occasional jostle of the ship, the groaning of the metal… It seemed quite normal. Though in time each step felt like the ship was rocking in a different direction, and soon he had to hold on to the walls to keep himself steady. He walked faster, until he finally reached the hatch. What happened then, felt all too much like a dream.

The boat had been losing control long before he had seen the outside world. It would have been pitch black if not for the constant onslaught of lightning. What he should have seen was each member of the crew had buckled down, tethering themselves to the boat to keep from going overboard. The captain trying desperately to regain control of the ship, maybe even his life flashing before his eyes. But all he saw was the jagged mess of rocks jutting out from the sea bed. And how close they were getting.

Andreios wrapped his arm a bit tighter and groaned loudly at the pain. Beside him sat his blade, still red from the heat of the fire he used, and the large piece of shrapnel he had pulled from his bicep. The wound had been bleeding for hours before he had managed to cauterize it, and he had little energy to do much else. But there he sat, a few miles from the wreck of the ship, completely and utterly alone.

He remembered very little from when the boat crashed into the rocks. Or more or less when _he_ crashed intothem but the constant throb of the gash across his forehead was enough to make him not want to remember. Still, he figured the only reason he was out on his own was how far he had been thrown out from the ship when it was crashing. From what he had seen, everyone else was either dead, or had been taken as prisoners. He felt a twinge in his chest at the thought.

_Raven…_

_Crack._

Cartilage gave way beneath the weight of her forehead as she brought it down and the sound echoed in her ears. It felt like the world had begun to move in slow motion as she began to look up a look of victory in her eyes. The last thing she saw however, was the look of rage within his, as red as the blood pouring from his nose.

She wasn't surprised when she woke some time later in a rickety cage completely alone. Her head throbbed in time with her aching side, but she still managed to survey her surroundings.

Her hands were bound above her head now. High enough that it kept her in a standing position at all times. She felt a faint tingling within them that told her they were on the verge of going numb. She had to have been out for a while. She tugged idly on her restraints, and found that they hardly gave way.

The cage itself didn't seem like it was well done. Sticks of thick bamboo stuck into the ground and woven together with rope. A padlock holding the door closed. They clearly were relying on the fact that she wouldn't be able to escape her bindings long enough to try and work on the cage.

The sound of whistling in the distance brought her away from her studies, and she instinctively slumped her head back down and closed her eyes. The footsteps drew closer, and the whistling only stopped when a hand came out to rattle the cage. Raven did her best to stay still.

There was a grunt, and then the static of a small radio. "She's still out cold boss."

More static. "Of course she is dumb shit! You see what she fucking did to my face?! She's lucky I didn't kill her like her little friend! But I'll be cool, brother, I'll be cool. She's about to pay it off to me." Another pause. "Stay there until she wakes up, then let me know… I still plan on hearing my song."

**Hey Guys!**

**I am SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOO sorry this took ages to post. I was in and out of the hospital for a little while there, and just finished moving, so I didn't have internet until recently! **

**But never fear! I'm back and planning on updating frequently~**

**I know this chapter isn't the longest, but I wanted to give a little backstory to our man Rei before we see some of what Vaas has in store.**

**Plan for some unpleasentries! **


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